The XXXVI National Karate Championship was held from August 12 to 14, in the city of Sucre and the event was open to all categories: Children, Youth and Seniors. There were 242 athletes who represented La Paz, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, Oruro, Potosí, Tarija and the hosts.
In the III Phase of the Patria stadium, the competitions in Kumite (combat) and Kata (forms) were carried out in the different enabled categories.
The children were the first to compete (Children’s category). They did it from Friday to Saturday at noon. Chuquisaca achieved a dazzling number of medals in this category: 25 gold, 29 silver and 33 bronze.
The classification was completed by: Potosí (4-6-12), Oruro (4-3-8), Cochabamba (4-1-8), Santa Cruz (2-2-7), La Paz and Tarija (both with 1-0-3).
Subsequently, it was the turn of the youth and seniors, with their respective competitions, and again the people of the capital made their locality respected. 184 karate fighters who were in the children’s competed, representing the same seven departments.
The locals took 17 gold medals, 17 silver and 25 bronze; followed by Cochabamba (7-4-6), Potosí (4-4-3), Santa Cruz (1-3-4), Oruro (1-2-4), Tarija (0-0-8) and La Paz (0-0-5).
National selection
With the results of this competition, the men’s team was completed for the South American Selective in Córdoba, Argentina, in November.
The participants of the Open Men category, aged 18 and over, fought to keep the two quotas that were at stake to integrate the national team.
The winners of these places were Eivin Beltrán from Cochabamba and Julio Apaza from Chuquisaca. “With them we complete the eight male athletes for the South American Championship in Argentina. We will also attend with four ladies, for a total of 12 athletes who will attend the tournament, which will start on November 6”, explained Kjarol Herrera, president of the Bolivian Karate Federation (Feboka).
The South American is important because it is a qualifier for the 2023 World Cup in Tokyo, Japan.
